Some places in the Tuscia feel like they belong in a great city — instead they sit on top of a village of a few thousand souls. Caprarola is one of them: above the rooftops rises Palazzo Farnese, one of the most astonishing Renaissance villas in Europe. People who come from Rome for a weekend often don't even know it exists — and they leave speechless.

A pentagon born as a fortress, turned into a wonder

The palace began as a pentagonal fortress, designed in the mid-16th century by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and Baldassarre Peruzzi. When Cardinal Alessandro Farnese decided to turn it into a residence worthy of his family, he called on Jacopo Barozzi, known as Vignola, one of the great architects of the age. The result is a one-of-a-kind building: austere and geometric outside, sumptuous within, with more than 6,000 square metres of frescoes covering the ceilings and walls of the two noble floors.

The Scala Regia and the Room of Maps

The heart of the visit is the Scala Regia: a monumental spiral staircase, frescoed by Antonio Tempesta and carried on columns, with steps so wide and shallow that the Cardinal, so the story goes, would ride up it on horseback. A little further on opens the Room of Maps (Sala del Mappamondo), the walls painted with maps of the world and the vault with the sky of the constellations: the whole knowledge of the Renaissance gathered into a single room.

The secret gardens

Behind the palace hide the Italian gardens: first the lower gardens, then the climb through a wood of centuries-old firs up to the upper gardens, among fountains, water features and the little Casina del Piacere. These are "secret gardens", enclosed by walls, and they are visited at set times: it is worth checking before you set off.

The village, the Via Dritta and the hazelnuts

The village too deserves the time for a stroll. A single, perfectly straight street — the Via Dritta — cuts through Caprarola and climbs up to the palace, past churches and small squares. And then there is the flavour of the area: the hazelnuts of the Tuscia, which here become tozzetti and amaretti to enjoy with a glass of local wine.

Useful information — checked in July 2026

  • Where: Caprarola (VT), in the Cimini hills — about 40 minutes by car from Villa Vacanze Valentina.
  • When it's closed: the palace is closed on Mondays (as well as 1 January and 25 December). Opening times and tickets on the official site of the Direzione regionale Musei del Lazio.
  • The gardens: visited at set times and with a guide — check before you go.
  • How long: an hour and a half to two hours for palace and gardens, more if you add the village.
  • Comfortable shoes: the village is uphill, and the Scala Regia and the gardens are explored on foot.

Pair it with: Vignola's other masterpiece

If Caprarola wins you over, a short drive away is its green twin by the same architect: Villa Lante in Bagnaia and its gardens. Two works by Vignola in a single weekend: one of stone and frescoes, the other of water and hedges.

Where to stay to visit Caprarola

Villa Vacanze Valentina is in Bassano in Teverina, about forty minutes from Palazzo Farnese and an hour from Rome: the quiet base for a weekend out of the city among Renaissance villas, villages and — on your return — the pool in the silence of the countryside. Discover the holiday home with pool or write to us on WhatsApp.

Photo: Livioandronico2013, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.